Final Fantasy X-3: The Battle Queen

by Belladona's Supplicant

The first thought-forms of this story emerged while I was listening to Sleeping Sun by Nightwish and thinking about the girls from Devil May Cry. I saw a version of Paine in my head, as a Lady Knight but also as a sort of super-powered dark heroine on a quest for vengeance and redemption. This is the story I've written so far, a sequel to FFX-2 with Paine as the lead character.

4. Chapter 3: The Birth of a Witch

Chapter 3: The Birth of a Witch

For a week Paine and Brock spent their evenings together and as much time during the day as they could get away with. Whenever their duties permitted, they went together out on the town for dinner, drinks, leisurely walks and sunset loitering around the more quaint sides of the city.

There were plenty of distractions in Spira's largest city, including many that were restricted or fully outlawed by Yevon. Most machina entertainment and gambling were prohibited; playing cards and shooting dice were illegal and generally confined to musty taverns along the harbor. However, the Blitzball season was just beginning and Yevon had officially authorized the construction of a new coliseum in Bevelle near the docks and one of the major canals through the city. It was a grandiose structure, with architecture matching that of the rest of Bevelle.

This coliseum was the third of its kind in Spira today; for quite surprisingly the Guado had made a resurgence of wealth and influence in the world, and they had built a stadium of their own on the edge of the Thunderplains. There sprawling expansions of Guadosalam had been built and resettled with the scattered Guado people from across Spira. With this stadium and the growing revenues generated by Blitzball, the Guado, Bevelle and Luca had become wealthy metropolises, despite the warfare and turmoil in the rest of Spira. However the Guado had their own entertainments and customs related to the coliseum, including gladiator matches between men and aquatic beasts or fiends.

Even the Al Bhed were making plans for building their own coliseum in the shallow sea behind the choral reefs south of Bikanel island. Their relative isolation from the troubles of the continent gave them the wealth and leisure with which to do so. However, as the diplomatic relations between them and Yevon had worsened over the years, they would also have to form their own separate league with its own tournaments. Officially, the Al Bhed were regarded as potential enemies of Yevon and banned from travel on the continent of Wilderia.

On this particular day in Bevelle, two new teams were playing. They were called the Swordfish from south Bevelle, and the Narwhals from east Luca. This game was the first round in a long tourney process that now lasted three months, in which all the teams across the continent would compete. These games would culminate in a final match between the two greatest teams for championship and a grand prize provided by Yevon and by the South Wilderia Shipping Company, as well as various corporations across Spira. Blitzball was no longer merely a pastime that brought Spira together or helped the common people forget their worries; it was now big business as well.

For today's game Brock had acquired two tickets to the coliseum. He had also purchased two tickets for the Bevelle amphitheater, where the next day there would be a showing of the game in Luca between the Besaid Aurochs and the Luca Goers. Paine and Brock walked enthusiastically down the canal-side road on their way to the coliseum, amid crowds of fans also making their way through the streets. Streamers and banners were waving everywhere with the colors of the Swordfish team. Meanwhile in the harbor the fans of the Narwhals had arrived, carrying their own banners, on the way to their side of the coliseum. In these times of general tension, the people took their Blitzball teams very seriously, and fighting in the streets was not uncommon after a match. Knowing this, Paine and Brock walked hand in hand the whole way.

"I'm surprised you were able to get tickets so late before the game." Paine said to him.

"They were all sold out, actually, but the manager recognized me and printed special tickets for the first class lounge. He said he'd put us toward the corner, so we wouldn't have to listen to the banter of priests and politicians." Brock said with a smile. Paine laughed aloud.

"You should thank him for that!" She cried gleefully.

When they stepped under the archway of the coliseum entrance they were in the midst of a thick crowd, flocking to food and drink stands along the sides of the corridor bellow the seating sections. They stopped momentarily to get some beers and snacks and then made their way up to the lounge overhead, which had the best view of the water arena and the rest of the coliseum at large. They stepped nonchalantly through the aisles, avoiding the eyes of the Yevon higher-ups, and went to their seats in the corner of the lounge from which they had a nearly perfect vantage point. The seats were filled with thousands of cheering fans. At that moment the energy containment field was activated with a faint sparkle and the valves along the bottom of the coliseum were opened, spraying water into the shape of a giant sphere.

As the sphere filled up with clear blue water, a jovial voice came echoing through the coliseum from the speakers placed around its pillars. Spotlights were focused upon the two raised walkways that led from the team locker rooms to the top of the watery sphere. The announcer introduced the two teams as they strode out from their respective chambers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, from south Bevelle, we have the swift and always stunning Swordfish!" He said, and a massive din came up from the crowds below. "And from east Luca, the mighty and majestic Narwhals!" He said, to yet another loud outburst. "The city of Bevelle, in partnership with the South Wilderia Shipping Company, and under the blessing of Yevon, is proud to present to you the first match of the season and what promises to be an exciting tournament! People of Spira, let the games begin!"

As soon as the introduction was finished the two teams charged down the length of their walkways and dove gracefully into the water. They were a fit and handsome assortment of young men and women, all of them agile in the water. They glided like seals toward their respective goals, and when the countdown clock began they had taken their positions. A large neon display above the center of the sphere was counting down, and when it reached zero a blitz ball was shot up from the bottom of the coliseum into the center of the watery sphere. Immediately the players darted into action and the first to acquire the ball was the captain of the Swordfish, a young man with tawny skin and black hair, covered in dark red tattoos.

"Captain Nikko has the ball!" The announcer cried.

There was a long battle whirling around the sphere as Nikko avoided his opponents and weaved closer to their goal. Finally he was stopped in his charge by a big, muscled brute from the Narwhal team, who collided with him and freed the ball, whereupon it was snatched by one of the other Narwhal players and swiftly taken near the opposite goal.

"A tackle by Darian, and a retrieval by Sora!" The announcer said.

Now the match devolved into a mash of individual combats. The players took nearly every opportunity to hammer each other and engage in fist fights. Paine had never had time to follow the sport, but there was an intense rivalry between these two teams since the day they had first played against each other two years ago in their debut match. This time they were both unleashing a lot of animosity. Finally the girl Sora managed to swim by the goal and fling the ball into it. The goal keeper almost caught it, but it slipped over his fingers and into the net. A siren went off and the scoreboard lit up, awarding one point to the Narwhals. The teams grudgingly returned to their positions and began the battle anew in the next round. As soon as the blitz ball appeared before them, they clashed in a frenzy to secure it. Meanwhile Paine and Brock sat hand-in-hand, drinking from tall cups of ale. Brock occasionally cheered and laughed as he watched the intense struggle played out before him.

"You seem to be having a lot of fun here!" Paine said to him.

"Oh yeah! This is the second time I've ever been to a game!" Brock informed her.

"Really?" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah. The first time was way back, when I was still new on the continent. It was in Luca, and I had time off from a crusade. It was almost as crazy as this match, but while the game was still running there was an attack on the city. A bunch of bandits came down the Mi'ihen Highroad and raided the marketplace. I was called out with the rest of the soldiers to drive them off. They didn't stop the game, of course, but by the time the bandits retreated it was over. I've wanted to watch another one ever since!" Brock told her.

"Well it must be nice to watch two in a row then! I wonder how the amphitheater will look compared to this." Paine commented.

"It's a good show, from what I've heard. Plus, it will be a good game; the Aurochs and Goers are another pair of fierce rivals apparently." He said. Paine remembered then that the Aurochs were from Besaid. It reminded her of old friends, and she wondered if the showing might be too nostalgic for her.

"I knew some people once who used to play for the Aurochs. But that was a long time ago. Brock looked away from the game then and turned to face her.

"Really? Who?" He asked.

"A friend of a friend, really. He used to be the captain and coach of the team. The star player was my old friend's lover. They all live in Besaid now." Paine replied. Brock nodded with a smile.

"Well then, maybe you'll see them in the show tomorrow, if the camera cuts to the audience." Brock suggested.

"Maybe." Paine said, a bit distraught. She had not seen many of her old friends in the past ten years. Only Khimari, who often fought beside her on the northern continent. He had not seen the others in years either. While she reflected, another goal was scored by the Narwhals and the crowd was in an uproar. Brock laughed and cheered beside her and Paine snapped her attention back onto the game.

"Oh man! There's bound to be riots tonight if the Swordfish don't get their act together soon!" Brock predicted. Paine nodded, and she watched the rest of the game with him in cheer and revelry, drinking together and enjoying each others company.

The game went on in a maelstrom of violence and struggle for victory. In the end it was the Narwhals who clenched the win comfortably, at four points to the Swordfish's two. Once the clock ran out the two teams both retreated back to their locker rooms, and the announcer attempted to maintain a positive, upbeat tone, but the crowd was overwhelmingly rowdy and unsettled.

"Good thing I got tickets to the first class lounge. We might want to take the alleyways back to the barracks." Brock suggested with a grin. Paine nodded in agreement and they both stood and lumbered toward the exit with the haze of partial intoxication still clinging to them. As they left the archway entrance, sure enough there was a contingent of city guards ready, and the opposing fans were shouting taunts and insults at each other. While Brock and Paine slipped away down the street, suddenly fist fights broke out and the guards charged in with batons to break apart the crowd. Brock took Paine's hand and led her to the canal docks on the side of the coliseum wall, where a few boatmen still remained for hire.

"Take us upstream toward the central plaza." Brock said to the weathered old boatman, as he handed over a pile of clinking gil. The boatman nodded from under a round rain cap and accepted the money. He let them into his narrow boat and started paddling his way up the canal. Paine sat on Brock's lap and he held her in his arms, kissing her ear and her cheek as they were ferried through the city under the stars and the pale moonlight. When they reached the end of the canal and climbed from the boat onto the plaza docks they walked together up the streets to the entry plaza and the barracks.

"Goodnight Love." Paine said to Brock, patting his bicep with her hand.

"Goodnight, my Beauty." Brock said, and he kissed her lips passionately before they parted company and went to their own rooms.

Paine went up to her room and collapsed on the bed as soon as she got her boots off. She fell asleep without bothering to undress. Her dreams were pleasant enough, until suddenly she heard a loud, booming sound, and awoke to find that it was merely a distortion of the sirens and horns that were sounding throughout the city. As she woke up she saw Brock standing beside her bed, looking out her window to the glowing orange light that radiated across the city. It was the glow of fire. Paine quickly sat up and got out of bed, standing beside him and peering out upon Bevelle. Several streets were burning bright, toward the coliseum and the harbor. Companies of knights were marching out of the barracks gates and across the plaza on their way to subdue the mounting chaos.

"They'll need us out there with them." Brock said solemnly.

"Yes… let's go then." Paine agreed.

The two of them went to the armory and threw on simple leather armor with steel plated shoulder pads and put on their capes denoting their rank, and then they went out into the courtyard and collected a few of the soldiers who had just come in from the streets to report for duty. They marched down the street alongside the main canal leading to the coliseum, which Paine and Brock had ferried on just earlier. When they arrived at the burning streets around the coliseum they saw soldiers carrying buckets of water back and forth from the canal to the streets, attempting to douse the flames. One of the knights in command greeted them there.

"Captain Paine and Sir Brock! I'm glad you're here." The knight said.

"What's the situation? Have you got the rioters under control?" Brock asked.

"The blitzball fans retreated hours ago. While we were busy with them, a large crowd of migrants came out of the slums and the work camps and starting throwing flaming cocktails through the windows of all the homes and businesses around the coliseum. They went down to the harbor and tried to burn the docks, too." The knight informed them. Brock stared away into the flames and then gazed back at Paine. His eyes were weary and full of anger and frustration.

"Did you capture any of them?" Brock asked finally.

"We didn't have the chance, Sir. They threw bricks and used clubs and hammers on the guards who tried to confront them. They all fled when they saw the soldiers coming down the street." The knight answered in shame. Brock shook his head disdainfully.

"Let's go to the camps and break them up. I don't care who they're working for. They need to leave the city tonight." Brock said, and the knight nodded and summoned a group of soldiers. Brock looked to Paine, but she said nothing. As the men gathered around them, Brock took the lead and they marched to the nearest bridge across the canal to the western side of the city. They went on through the streets into the slums, to a makeshift shanty town where tribals and poor unskilled workers from across Spira were huddled in tents and shacks, living on bread provided to them by the city and meager wages paid out to them by the mills, sweatshops and machina factories in the business district of the city.

Brock went into the middle of the shanty town and sunk his axe into a barrel laying in the gutter. He went into the largest tent nearby and tore the entryway flap off, entering with Paine and two soldiers beside him.

"Who's in charge here?" Brock demanded loudly, waking up the men who were sleeping on bedrolls sprawled along the sides of the tent. They sat up, and a few got onto their feet. Brock repeated himself; "I said, who is in charge here!"

"I'm the foreman." One of them answered drearily. "What do you want?"

"I want to know where your men have been all night." Brock said firmly.

"How should I know?" The wispy, dry, middle-aged man replied with utter disregard.

"You know what I want?" Paine said to him then. "I want to kick your teeth in, and walk all over you until you start coughing up answers."

"I don't know where the boys go at night. That's their business." The foreman said tersely.

"Is that right? Search the tent, men!" Brock ordered, and immediately the rest of the soldiers poured into the tent and subdued the men inside it, and started overturning everything inside.

"Look here!" One of the soldiers shouted, and he held up a claw hammer with blood smeared all over it.

"Arrest them all." Brock said unflinchingly, and immediately the tent was torn apart and the workers were all bound and gagged and pulled out into the street. Once they were huddled in a group they numbered over twenty. Brock had their shirts torn or cut off, and he could see that they were covered in dark red or black tattoos depicting swords and spearheads, with skulls or severed heads impaled upon them.

"The Red Blade Tribe, from the caverns along Mushroom Rock Road. I remember fighting you boys years ago. Looks like you're sore losers." Brock said, with a tone of disgust. He raised his voice and shouted across the shanty town at the scant crowds of dreary people who had come out of their shacks to witness this raid. "You are all here in Bevelle right now at our good graces, on account of our tolerance and generosity. You've been taking advantage of our kindness as if you think we're weak. Well it's not going to be tolerated anymore, strangers. You don't belong here. Cause trouble for us and you'll be leaving one way or another."

With that, Brock retrieved his axe and ordered the soldiers to pull the prisoners onto their feet and lead them out of the slums. They marched the prisoners back to the Barracks and chained them to a post in the courtyard until morning, which came a couple hours later. Brock and Paine ate a quick breakfast and then went back into the courtyard to take stock of their prisoners. A warden from the city prison was there.

"I was called upon early this morning with the news that you've got a fresh batch of criminals here for me. I see they look mighty lively!" The gray bearded, bald and muscular old man said, between spitting out black residue from his chew.

"I'm not permitted to make a sentence. You'll have to ask Captain Paine." Brock told him.

"You can make the call this time, Brock. I'll stand by you." Paine said.

"Excellent!" Brock exclaimed with satisfaction. One of the prisoners began yelping desperately.

"I'm innocent! I didn't do anything! I have a wife and a child!" He cried, quivering nervously.

"Really? So can you tell me what happened last night, and name one other person to corroborate your story?" Brock challenged him. The scrawny man could not help but glance aside at the venomous and vengeful expressions of his fellows. He said nothing, and stared at Brock in horror.

"I expected as much. Take them all to the prison tower for the next six months. Except for this one, and that one over there. I don't like the way he's glaring at me." Brock said, pointing to the scrawny man and then to a much larger, more muscular man with tattoos and a grim look on his face. "Send both of them to work in the prison mines on Mount Gagazet, for the next three years."

"No!" The scrawny man cried out in anguish, and he crumbled onto the grass of the courtyard, crying and wailing until the soldiers pulled him up and threw him into a caged wagon standing nearby.

"Rioting and brigandage will not be tolerated in Bevelle. Keep that in mind, boys, in case you ever make it back this way." Brock said sternly. The wagons left promptly, one for the northern roads, the others for the Bevelle prison tower. As they rolled out of the gates a messenger arrived and strode up to Paine herself.

"Lady Paine, the councilors wish to speak with you today, at noon." He informed her. Paine nodded in acceptance, and the messenger departed.

"Well, I guess we should get lunch early then." Brock said with a grin.

Paine and Brock went together into Yevon headquarters this time, and they entered the council chamber at the Maesters' request. They stood together at the end of the table, while Maester Reylan greeted them.

"Good afternoon, Captain Paine and Sir Brock. I heard of your exploits last night, and the judgment you handed down this morning. I have to say that I appreciate your initiative, but there are others on the council who do not share my enthusiasm." Reylan said.

"Indeed, I'm afraid not." Maester Feltan interjected. "You do realize that the Madran Fish Processing Company is now short twenty-three workers?"

"No. It never once entered into my mind." Paine replied plainly.

"I am sure it didn't. Did you have any proof that you captured the guilty parties for last night's debacle?" Feltan continued to interrogate her.

"We searched their tent, and found bloody tools that matched the description one of our knights gave us, of weapons used to attack our own soldiers and guardsmen." Paine divulged.

"And so from that, you arrested and summarily jailed twenty-three men?" Feltan asked in disdain.

"It was a martial law scenario. We're not the city guard or public investigators. We are soldiers. If we have to deal with the city's problems then we'll do it the way a soldier always solves problems… quickly and effectively." Paine replied unabashedly.

"Do you really have no compassion? These migrant peoples are refugees from war torn lands, seeking a better life. Don't you think special consideration should be taken for their sake, and that of their families?" Feltan appealed, slathering on a compulsory sentimentality that wreaked of underhandedness.

"Yeah, that was all fine and good until they burned half the city down. Now I don't care who they are or what problems they have, they can pound sand out of here. I'm responsible for protecting Bevelle and Yevon itself. I'm not going to think about business for even one second, when the stability of our city and the lives of our people are at stake." Paine said unapologetically.

"How dare you take such an attitude toward me! How can you have such crass insolence, while defending such inhumane behavior? People are suffering all across Spira, and these destitute people living in the slums are people like anyone else. How can you act as if their lives matter less?" Feltan repudiated her in an outburst, and his temples began throbbing. His Guado features became menacing, but Paine had stared down Guado troops and conjurers before, in the standoff between Bevelle and Guadosalam prior to their treaty of alliance. She did not quiver or back down.

"That's tragic. You know whose fault it is? Yours. You took their land to mine it or to farm it, and now they've got nowhere to go but into the cities. They can't fit in here, they can't find gainful employment because they have no skills and most of them are not very smart or disciplined. You should have just left them alone. Now all of Spira has to deal with them, and it's only going to get worse from here on." Paine elaborated pragmatically.

"With your callous attitude, I have no doubt that these problems will persist! Gentlemen, should we not take more care with our appointments of military officers?" Feltan complained, but this time Maester Amadhi Ronso spoke up.

"Can we move on to more important business? No one cares that your friend's company lost a few laborers. He can easily hire Bevelle citizens who need the work, for barely twice the price, and then we won't have to waste the treasury buying bread for them. I don't care about migrant squatters, and I don't care about your greediness. I care about eliminating the Black Eagle tribe before they launch another raid." The cantankerous old Ronso said, with blunt forcefulness.

"How dare you, Ronso, chastise another Maester in the company of inferiors! How dare you speak to me this way, after the expulsion your people committed against mine! The massacre that you perpetrated upon us! I won't stand for this!" Feltan shrieked. Maester Amadhi was about to rise from his seat, until Maester Reylan raised his hand commandingly and called for order.

"Gentlemen! This is no way for the council to proceed! Now let's have order and see to the task at hand!" He urged them. "Captain Paine, I present you with these medals of merit, as I promised, for you and Sir Brock." Reylan said, and he opened a small box on the table revealing two golden pendants to fit onto an officer's cloak. He beckoned for Paine to come and take them.

"We thank you graciously, Maester Reylan, and we await your command." Paine said dutifully.

"Excellent. It has been decided. You will depart from Bevelle tomorrow morning, as soon as you are ready. You have been assigned command of a company of Crusaders, among our finest, as well as a platoon of mounted knights. You are ordered to lead an expedition into the ravines of Sin's Wake, to locate and dispatch the new queen of the Black Eagle tribe, and recover the eyes of the Medusa. You must return them intact to Yevon headquarters. Is that clear, Lady Paine?" Maester Reylan asked. Paine cocked her head aside and gazed at him incredulously.

"Forgive me Grand Maester, but I'm afraid the force you've assigned to me is far less than I was expecting for this mission." Paine said, as cordially as she could force herself to convey.

"Yes, perhaps, but it is all that we can spare now. The city is in turmoil from within, and threatened from without. We need all the soldiers we can keep in the capitol. Your troops will be arriving today from Fort Spearhead." Maester Reylan explained.

"Maester, sir, I must say frankly that I do not believe we shall succeed with such a small force, no matter how elite it is. The region is unforgiving and the enemy forces are likely to be overwhelming. We will need more men." Paine attempted once more to reason with the council. Maester Amadhi Ronso shifted uncomfortably as she spoke, but Reylan and the others eyed her with contempt.

"You have been given your assignment, Captain Paine, and you will fulfill it. The rewards for your service will be generous, I assure you. Now you are dismissed." Reylan said firmly. Paine glared at him with eyes that seemed to glow red. She nodded curtly, and then left the chamber with Brock at her side.

"Those idiots!" Paine growled lowly as they stepped out of Yevon headquarters.

"Are they expecting a miracle from us? Or are they just trying to get rid of us?" Brock fumed, and Paine could tell that he shared her rage.

"There's no way we could cross Sin's Wake with less than a brigade of men. This mission is beyond foolish; it's madness!" Paine said furiously.

"We have to go by stealth, if we go at all. Armored knights and chocobos will be no use to us in the ravines." Brock determined. Paine nodded slowly in agreement.

"We'll take dark armor and shadow cloaks with us. We'll have to sneak in with a small team of infiltrators, snatch the queen's head and then escape. After that we'll have to run like hell back to Bevelle." Paine surmised. After she spoke, a loud, gruff voice called to them from the headquarters entrance.

"Captain Paine." Maester Amadhi Ronso called her. "I would speak with you a moment, in private."

"As you wish Maester." Paine acquiesced, and she followed him back into the headquarters to his private chambers. There she saw six giant Ronso warriors, wearing the uniform colors of Yevon soldiers, armed with spears and steel morningstars.

"These warriors can be trusted. They will die before accepting dishonor. I will send them with you on your mission, to use however you see fit." The Ronso Maester offered her.

"I thank you, Maester! I appreciate your kindness, but I don't know if I should accept it…" Paine said, and the Maester shook his head firmly.

"You should, and you must listen to me. Bevelle is facing dangers beyond what you may know. There is a hidden evil, and Yevon is not innocent of it. From Yevon, to 'New Yevon' and back to Yevon again… the snake changes its skin, but it is the same. Only now it may be more dangerous than ever. I ask that after you retrieve the eyes of Medusa, you bring them to me and not to Reylan, and certainly not to Feltan. I will be awaiting your return, and I will meet you on the Highbridge. Will you trust me, my Lady? There is little time left, for us to rescue Bevelle and Spira itself." The old Ronso said to her. Paine gazed up into his cloudy eyes, and she saw no lie in him.

"So be it, Maester. I will do as you ask. But even with your help, it is unlikely that we will succeed, and even less so that we will return alive." Paine forewarned him. Maester Amadhi shook his head again.

"Have trust in the True Fayth, and you will be delivered to victory." The Ronso sage assured her. Paine merely nodded, and then took her leave. She went out from the headquarters and met Brock.

"What did he say?" Brock asked immediately.

"I can't tell you now. But he's sending his personal guards with us on the mission." Paine said.

"Is he now? That's a nice gesture, but I don't think six Ronso warriors will be enough to tip the scales in our favor, no matter how mighty they may be." Brock replied.

"Maybe not… but we'll see." Paine agreed.

"So what should we do now?" Brock asked.

"I would say that we should wait for our troops to arrive and then prepare them, but at this point that hardly matters. I say we get drunk and go to the amphitheater to watch some Blitzball." Paine decided, expressing her disaffection with their circumstances. Brock laughed.

"Are you joking?" He asked incredulously.

"Not hardly." She replied. Brock smiled and leaned in to kiss her.

After having dinner and a few drinks, Paine and Brock made their way to the amphitheater near the central plaza of Bevelle. Like on the previous night there were large crowds gathering to attend the showing, but the likelihood of riots and hooliganism was greatly reducing owing to the fact the actual game was taking place hundreds of miles away between two non-local teams. Unlike the coliseum, the amphitheater was a much cozier environment with a more placid atmosphere. Paine and Brock lumbered drunkenly to their seats and dropped into them, eager for the show to start.

Soon the amphitheater darkened as the lights were dimmed, and then projectors were activated. Blue beams of light shimmered across the central pedestal of the amphitheater, and then with a flash there appeared a large blue orb, which began to clarify until they were able to see that it was the water sphere of the Luca coliseum. The view panned out and they saw the Blitzball teams come rushing out of their locker rooms to dive into the water. The Besaid Aurochs were wearing black and yellow shorts or baggy swimming trunks, but they were bare above the waist. The Luca Goers wore their purple swimming gear. As they all ran down their lanes and dove in, Paine thought she saw someone she recognized. When the camera zoomed in on the teams assembling in the water, she could see that it was indeed Tidus himself. Her heart jumped. She knew that Yuna would be there. Paine wondered if the camera would cut to the audience at any point. Surely they would take a shot of Yuna if she were there; she was the most celebrated person in all of Spira, and she hadn't been seen outside Besaid in ten years.

The voice of the announcer came through the speakers and introduced the two teams. It was an older man with a rich, old-timey voice.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Luca and all of Spira, please welcome for your viewing pleasure, the young athletes gathered here today. From Besaid, the winners of the last old-league championship in Spira, and a formidable team, the Besaid Aurochs! And from Luca, your own beloved Goers! Let the game begin!"

As soon as he spoke the counter was down to three, and when it reached zero a blitz ball shot into the water and the two teams barreled after it. One of the Goers retrieved the ball, but he was instantly smashed into by Tidus, who nimbly grabbed the ball and glided away like a dolphin. The whole team of Goers tried to stop him, but he weaved and twisted through them as easily as if he were an eel, and in under a minute he scored the first goal. The screams of the crowd could be heard faintly through the speakers, and in the amphitheater itself the people cheered and laughed triumphantly. Most of them were rooting for the Aurochs and Tidus in particular.

The game was pitched from then on, not because the Aurochs were an exceptional team, but rather because Tidus was perhaps the best blitzer in the world. The Goers were a fairly skilled team, but they could not evade Tidus or by any means stop him from scoring once he acquired the ball. He was lean and muscled, and so at home in the water that he seemed to be a native sea creature. The camera swept the audience at Luca and focused on Wakka, who was sitting in the coach's chair next to the locker room entrance. He was cheering and laughing at his rival, the coach of the Goers.

"That is the man himself, Wakka, a seasoned veteran of the Besaid Aurochs back during the old league days. He's now their coach and a mentor of the star player, Tidus, whom I'm sure you all know. Tidus swept our very own lady summoner off her feet and carried her away ten years ago, and she hasn't come back since. They have children in Besaid, you understand. We wish them all the best." The announcer said.

Paine was quivering in her seat, and she felt heavy. Stinging sensations pulsed in her chest and her forearms and hands were numb. She was somewhat relieved that Yuna was not there. Somehow she just wasn't ready to see her again. And yet at the same time she was disappointed and upset. She wished that she could have seen her old friend, without having to call her or go to her. She just wanted to see a glimpse of an old friend's happiness, for her own reassurance and peace of mind. Slowly the feeling of pressure subsided, and Paine got another beer from one of the purveyors to help her relax. In her mind she talked herself down from all the stress.

From the shape of Tidus' body and his stamina, how could Yuna possibly be unhappy?

They watched as Tidus utterly decimated the opposing team, and burnt up the scoreboard. It was at five and zero before Wakka finally called Tidus out of the water to let the other players get some practice. The two of them sat by the sidelines and watched and cheered. With only a few minutes left to go, the Aurochs made one more score and the Goers made two. The scene at Luca after the game was little less heated than the previous night in Bevelle, but it still looked to be getting raucous. In the amphitheater the crowds laughed, cheered and jeered at each other, but then began to disperse more or less peacefully. The amphitheater began to empty, and then Paine and Brock finally stood up to leave.

"What did you think of the game, Beautiful?" Brock asked her.

"It was a lot of fun, but less intense than last night. Tidus is entertaining to watch; he dominated almost the whole game." Paine remarked. Brock nodded.

"Yeah, he's an incredible athlete. I've never seen anything like him before. I wonder how he could hold up as a soldier." Brock pondered aloud. Paine would have said something, but she wasn't in the mood to talk about her old friends. Luckily Brock didn't press the issue. She knew that Tidus had been an accomplished guardian, serving in Yuna's quest to defeat Sin. Apart from the assault on their wedding, Paine had never seen him in battle. Besaid was reportedly the last peaceful place in Spira; a bastion of the Eternal Calm, much as it had always been.

Paine and Brock went back to the barracks, and they lingered on a bench under a row of blossoming cherry trees by the side of one of its stone walls. The moon overhead was now full, and they cuddled together for a long time under its cool light. Paine was dressed in her typical outfit; dark trousers and boots, with a low-cut sleeveless shirt. Brock was kissing the side of her face and neck, and her chest. Paine ran her fingers over the cropped stubble of hair on his head, and traced her finger around the long scar that lined the left side above his ear. Brock lifted her up in his mighty arms then, and carried her around to the back entrance of the knight's quarters. It was late, and no one was up, so far as they could see. Brock hurriedly took her into his room and kicked the door shut, then he laid her across his bed. He climbed over her, kissing her lustily. He pulled off his tunic, and his giant upper body rippled with musculature. He began kissing her neck and her chest, and pried her shirt down. Paine wrapped her legs around him and caressed the back of his head and neck with her fingers. They were drifting into a blissful tryst together, until they heard a loud call coming across the corridor, and the sound of marching boots. They both paused and sighed in disdain, and Brock got up and threw his tunic back on. He went out into the hall and quickly shut his door. Paine listened as the sound of boots approached, and a familiar voice spoke to Brock.

"Sir Brock Boru. I've been looking for you all night. You realize we have a mission tomorrow? I need to brief you on your role in our command structure."

"Understood, Commander Beclem. I apologize, that I had some last minute errands to run in the city." Brock said. Paine did not make a sound, but inwardly she fumed with discontent.

Of course they sent me Beclem for this mission. If I'm going to die, he's the last person I want to have there with me.

"Where is Captain Paine? I need to speak with her as well." Beclem said demandingly.

"Have you checked her room in the barracks? I'll send out some squires to search for her. Lots of our soldiers are still out on the town tonight." Brock replied elusively.

"Getting drunk before departure? Has everyone in Bevelle completely lost their composure? Find her, and bring her to the war room under the barracks, as soon as humanly possible!" Beclem ordered, raising his voice impatiently. He then turned and stormed away down the hall. After he was gone Brock stepped back into the room and shut the door.

"What a bastard…" Paine said irritably.

"He's what we colloquially refer to as a 'wag' back home." Brock added. Paine looked up at him and could not help but smile in amusement.

"Back home, eh? Why haven't you ever told me about that?" Paine asked curiously.

"It's a long story, and sadly we haven't the time." Brock said.

"True, we don't. I have to sneak out of here. Let's get this mission over with, Love, and then say goodbye to Yevon and Bevelle. They can give my promotion to Beclem for all I care." She said, and then she got up from the bed and pulled her shirt back into place. Paine kissed Brock once more before she left, and then she hurried to her room to put on more official attire, and went to the war room for a long and unbearable briefing. By the end of it she wanted to strangle Beclem. Finally once they were finished Paine went up to her room and got in bed. She knew she had only a few hours of sleep to get, before a long day of marching on narrow roads and sharp inclines.

The next morning Paine was hung over and barely able to walk. She gulped down as much water as she could and went to breakfast, where Brock and Beclem met her at a table. They ate fried rice with copious amounts of scrambled eggs, and some fish and crab meat. Paine and Brock were both drinking plenty of juice.

"You two better not eat like this on mission. Our rations will be gone before we even reach the tribal enclave. I've been near Sin's Wake before. It was impossibly harsh terrain. I never dreamed of actually trying to cross it. We'll see if you can live up to your miraculous reputation." Beclem chided them.

"Yes, we definitely shall." Paine said bluntly, and she finished her cup and stood up from the table. She and Brock went to the armory. They had both been awarded glistening new suits of armor, matching the designs of Bevelle's guard, since Paine was soon to be appointed commander of it. They had requested Dark Knight armor, however, and they were issued it from the clerk, along with serrated, black-bladed swords. They fitted on their gear and then went back out into the courtyard, where the company of crusaders and detachment of chocobo knights awaited them. Paine stepped in front of them confidently, but also impatiently.

"We all know our mission, gentlemen, and I'll thank you to keep it quiet and between yourselves. I don't want to be out there trudging around for a month. Let's get moving, and get this over with." She said bitterly, and with that she took off marching through the barracks gate with Brock beside her, and with the Ronso warriors at her back. Beclem gave marching orders, and the company assembled into a narrow formation of four files and followed after her, with the chocobo knights falling in behind them. Beclem actually made them march in time while he gave cadence.

"Left-right, left-right, left-right, kill! Left-right, left-right, you know that I will!" He shouted, and the crusaders repeated after him in unison. This display continued until they exited the High Bridge and entered the woods, whereupon Beclem fell silent, and all of his men did as well. They marched onto the northern road that ran through the hills alongside the sea. They were still within sight of Bevelle for most of the day until the road took them up higher and higher on the slope of a rocky climb, toward jagged stone peaks. They crested the ledge and went over it, and then Paine saw the expanse of the wastelands and rocky ranges, ravines and caverns that formed Sin's Wake. She saw no trees or forests, only bushes and thickets and sparse plants. The most plentiful feature of the terrain was large boulders and sharp rocks. Only a few creeks and rivers running off from the mountains were visible to her at present. It was an eerie and shadowy place, and a feeling of deep apprehension and regret came over her as she gazed upon it. Hesitantly she took her next step, looking back down at the sea and the city of Bevelle, before descending into the mess below where it would be completely out of sight.

She had a map, but as they marched further down the road into the ridges and ravines, she could tell that it would be difficult to read. The major features of the region were difficult to see while down in the lower cloisters. She often turned to Brock with anxious glances.

This is where they live? I can't imagine staying here. It would drive a person crazy. No wonder they're trying to take over Spira.

They marched until the road disappeared, and then slowly began to slog their way through thick reeds and the lowland swampy morass. It came to the point that the knights had to dismount from their chocobos and guide them along. When darkness came on the first night, they all huddled within a cluster of big boulders, and posted lookouts atop them, armed with bolt-action rifles. They lit few fires, for the moon was only just beginning to wane, but it took her a long while to rise above the mountains to the east, over which they had come. Paine sat beside Brock in silence, watching and listening to their surroundings. Everything was unnaturally quiet and still. They had seen few birds, animals or fiends during the day, and none of them lingered when they saw the company coming. Now as the sky darkened and the moon rose, they heard the distant howling of Lupines and wolves, echoing through the rocks and canyons. As they sat there, resting their backs against the stone, they suddenly heard a deep and blood-curdling roar. It was the roar of a Behemoth fiend. All of the troops immediately sat up and grabbed their weapons. As Paine sat against the bare rock she could feel the faint trembling of the earth caused by the giant fiend's footsteps.

"Don't move." Beclem said softly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear him. "It could be miles away from here, but the roar of a Behemoth carries far. Put the fires out, and go to sleep. From now on, no fire. He'll definitely smell it. And don't use your rifles unless you absolutely have to." He ordered. Immediately the soldiers scrambled to douse their fires, and the watchmen fixed bayonets to their rifles, or else grabbed their spears. The chocobo knights had to calm their birds as best they could.

"I can't believe this. We're in for a long mission." Paine muttered to Brock.

"We'll make it, if we're careful and smart, and don't let things get out of hand." Brock encouraged her. He held her hand firmly in his own, so that they could both sleep.

In the morning they awoke to find a heavy mist hanging over the boulders and all around them. It was so thick that they could barely see anything more than ten feet away. The nights and mornings were cold in Sin's Wake. It took a long time for the sun to rise over the mountains. Beclem finally found his way to Paine and Brock.

"There's no way we can navigate through this. We'll have to wait until the sun burns it off, before we can continue the march. Who knows how long that will take." He complained dourly.

"We're going to have to march at night from now on then." Paine concluded bitterly.

"With all the fiends about? It would be asking for trouble." Beclem said defiantly.

"I don't care. We're not going to bumble around out here for two months. We need to get moving toward the possible locales of the tribe. We don't even know for sure where they are." Paine said firmly. As they spoke, a tall lumbering figure came out of the mist toward them. It was one of the Ronso guards that Maester Amadhi sent with Paine.

"Captain Paine, we have found a way further into Sin's Wake. We can lead you through the mist. We should go while we still have fog cover, because my comrades have sighted big fiend birds ahead. We don't want them to see us." The Ronso informed her. Paine nodded.

"Alright, you heard him. Get your men up, and have them follow us double file, and keep their eyes on the man in front of them. Let's get moving." Paine ordered, and she followed the Ronso warriors through the fog and between the rocks and cracks of the ravine.

They went slowly through the low ditches and canyons, hardly able to see anything. Then the sun began to rise over the land, and the fog started to dissipate. Finally they were able to see the sky, and some of the terrain as the fog thinned out and lowered below their heads. However, they also heard the immense flapping of giant wings, and suddenly the screams of men at the back of the formation when a black Zu came sweeping down and plucked a knight from his chocobo with great murderous talons. They watched helplessly as the giant bird carried off the man screaming faintly into the distance, and landed on a steep hilltop to devour him.

"Get low, and keep marching! Dismount from your birds!" Paine shouted aloud. Beclem and his lieutenants echoed her orders, and then they kept marching as quickly as they could. The Ronso took them lengthways down a long ravine, and for a while they were still safe, until the fog evaporated completely and they were exposed. Paine motioned for the company to compress their ranks and watch their surroundings. It was then that she heard the clattering of rolling rocks, and when she looked to the source she saw a giant arachnid figure. It was a Boris crab, and a large one too. As soon as it saw them it began scuttled swiftly toward them.

"Attack!" Beclem ordered, and his men opened fire at the fiend. Little was accomplished, however, for its shell was thick and hard. Beclem took a spear from one of his men and hurled it at the giant crab, but it ricocheted over the top of the fiend's shell. The Boris then was upon them and cut a man in half with its pincers. Brock took up his axe then and went to work. He hacked the joint on one of the beast's legs, and it broke apart with a splash of green fluid. He took off another leg, and the Boris stumbled and started to retreat. Once it was gone they huddled together, pointing their weapons in all directions.

"Let's keep moving!" Paine commanded. Slowly the formation lurched forward, reluctant to go any further. The Ronso led them out of the end of the ravine, and finally they were on higher ground.

They continued the march all day from there, and continued onward after nightfall. They stopped when the fog began to blanket the ground again, and they huddled into a defensive formation. They slept by pairs, and kept a full line of defense up at all times. They got less sleep, but better sleep perhaps. The next day continued much the same, but this time two of their men wandered away from the company and were set upon by wild lupines. By the time they reached the bodies it was too late. They marched on for a week before they reached the alleged location of the Black Eagle tribe's enclave. Paine ordered the company to stand by while she and Brock took the Ronso warriors to explore stealthily. The enclave was supposed to be in a canyon beside a lone mountain not far from the middle of Sin's Wake. As they climbed the ridgeline above the canyon, Paine could see a vast expanse on the other side of the canyon, of nearly open and bleak plains and steppes, sealed in by the rocky crags and mountains that surrounded the region and isolated it from the northern seas. Then she peered below, and saw at last what they had sought after. There was a city made of sod and clay bricks, dusty gray in color, with reed-thatched roofs. These structures stood before a crude but colossal stone statue of an eagle. At the foot of it was the entrance to a cavern under the mountain. The town was not exactly bustling or prosperous, but there was plenty of movement and activity around it. The men were working or else training in formation and one-on-one sparring toward the outskirts on a cleared range of the flat, sandy floor of the canyon. The women did chores or else tended to their children, if they were not training for combat as well. The children played or trained their dogs and war hounds. Some of the men were returning with butchered game, or came herding flocks of goats and Ibex back into their pins on the edge of the town. It looked as if there could be as many ten thousand people in this town. As Paine took a pair of binoculars from her companions, she scanned further across the open steppes to the north, and saw that more villages were scattered upon the plains. The Black Eagles were a full nation then, and it was no wonder they could keep harassing the lower lands so regularly.

"Is this really a typical day for them? It looks like they mostly focus on combat training." Paine muttered quietly.

"Well, they didn't exactly send us an invitation… so I'm guessing they're not putting on a show for us. Besides, these tribals are tough, and we always knew that. I'd be surprised if they didn't train and fight every day." Brock surmised.

"I don't know how we're going to get though the town unnoticed. It would be practically impossible, with all the activity, and with all the hounds sniffing around." Paine said.

"If they were keeping the eyes of Medusa somewhere… I'd guess they're inside that doorway, under the eagle statue." Brock suggested.

"It looks like it could lead under the mountain, if it's deep enough." Paine supposed.

"You think maybe there could be a back exit?" Brock asked.

"I don't know, but I hope so. Problem is, I don't think we can take the risk of sending a search party around the mountain. If someone sees them, they'll be onto us." Paine replied.

"Send us, Lady Paine. If the Black Eagles see us, they will assume there are Ronso hunting parties in their lands. They will not suspect an army from Bevelle." The Ronso champion suggested to her. Paine nodded in agreement.

"Very well then. You'll move faster in this terrain anyway. Go out, and find us the exit, if there is one." Paine ordered, and the Ronso saluted her before turning and running across the wastes toward the nearby mountain slopes.

"Those Ronso have turned out to be invaluable to us. It's a good thing Maester Amadhi has a fondness for you, Paine." Brock told her.

"Yes it is. We'll have him to thank if we make it out of Sin's Wake alive." Paine agreed grimly.

That night, as Paine and Brock sat beside each other in silence, they held hands. They could not talk or hold conversation, for fear that they might be heard, or that if they were distracted they would not notice someone sneaking up on them. The Ronso had been gone all day, but suddenly Paine heard a soft rustle, the sound of footprints. She put a hand on the pommel of her sword and leaned up, but she saw the outline of a tall Ronso brave. It was their search party.

"What have you found?" Paine asked them immediately.

"There is a rear entrance, and it is lightly guarded. It is not all that far away, but it took time for us to find it and investigate stealthily. We can take out the two guards, but we should wait until your troops are ready to move." The Ronso informed her.

"Of course. Good work. We'll go back and tell the others, and make a plan." Paine determined, and she and Brock stood up then and led the search party back down to the encampment of their company. They arrived and summoned Beclem and his lieutenants.

"We have found the enclave of the Black Eagles, and a hidden entrance into it. We cannot allow the community in the canyon to know of our presence; there's far too many of them to fight. We can only take a small squad into the mountain caves with us. The rest will have to stand by outside, and await our return. Once we've made it out, we'll have to make a forced march back to Bevelle. I don't expect this to go well, but we will do what we can. Beclem, I need six of your best men, lightly armored, and explain to them that they need to exercise perfect silence." Paine ordered. Beclem nodded, saluted her and then went to gather his half of the squad.

The six Ronso warriors, plus six Crusaders, Paine and Brock, made up the whole squad for the mission. Beclem stayed with the company to ensure steady command in the event of trouble. They moved the company to a new spot a couple miles south of the hidden entrance to the mountain, and then Paine and Brock set out for it with their squad. They reached the open, oval shaped cavern mouth, perched behind some ridgelines at the base of the mountainside. Paine sent the Ronso warriors first, to eliminate the two guards they had warned her of. One of them was sent back to inform her of their success, and then the squad crept into the entrance, and began their mission.

The entrance had been partly visible due to a torch that one of the guards kept. They took the torch with them to explore the twisting caverns. Paine led the way with sword drawn, and the whole squad had their weapons at the ready. As they went further into the mountain, gradually a sound in the deep became audible to them. It was the sound of drums, and chanting, and singing of female voices. Paine led them on more cautiously now. She had no idea what to expect, but it seemed that they were in the midst of a ritual. As they went further, following the sound, they came to an antechamber, where a single guard stood, seeming to be unaware of them. Paine held her breath in dismay, until one of the Crusaders drew back an arrow on his bow, and let it fly. It struck the guardsman in the face and pierced his skull, and he fell to the floor of the cavern without uttering a sound. Paine moved forward into the chamber then, which was lit by torchlight, and she could see glimmering crystals and geodes imbedded in the walls and the stalagmites themselves. They went on to the other end of the chamber, and entered another chamber, which held a shrine, with the imagery of an Eagle, and a statue of a woman in white marble. This chamber was empty, however, and they heard the drums and chanting coming from the very next corridor ahead of them. Paine slowly crept toward this hallway, and peered around the corner.

There was a massive chamber with pillars of carved stone supporting the high ceiling. She saw directly ahead of her a stage, whereupon twenty young women and teenage girls were twirling skillfully and wildly in a dance. They were barefoot, with clinking bracelets of gold, silver or jewel beads around their ankles and wrists, their legs were bare below short dark skirts, and their bosoms were covered only by black sashes wrapped around them and knotted at their backs. Their bodies were painted intricately with black or dark blue dyes, and their hair was braided behind their heads. Behind them on the stage was a row of older women seated on rugs on the stage, all clad in black robes and cowls. Between these two groups of women was a single young woman, wearing the same garb as the dancing girls, but with a large crown upon her head that bore two goat horns, one on each side. A necklace of black feathers draped over her breasts, and she was kneeling before a short altar that had been set up on the stage. Incense was burning upon with, with a thick bitter smell, and two black candles as well. In the center of the altar was a glass jar filled with brine, and floating within it was a pair of human eyes; the eyes of Medusa. Paine withdrew from the corner and pulled back, whispering to Brock in dismay.

"They are performing the ritual now! She is going to swallow the eyes, and become the next Medusa!" Paine said urgently.

"How many of them are there?" Brock asked.

"I couldn't see below the stage! But we have to do something now!" Paine replied hastily. Suddenly the drum beats and the singing voices reached a climax, and then fell deathly silent, and the clinking of bracelets died down. Paine immediately peered back around the corner. She could see the women in black robes whispering, and they began to glow with a eerie violet aura. From each of them, flowing beams of magic were channeled upon the woman kneeling before the altar. As Paine watched, the girl reached out a hand and lifted the lid from the jar, and then she reverently began to reach for it with both hands. With no more time to hesitate, Paine gripped her sword in both hands and sprinted out of the corridor and across the stage. In just an instant, with no one able to stop her or react, Paine slipped behind the girl and cut off her head with one fell swipe. All of the women in dark robes groaned in misery, and the whole crowd, a huge gathering, cried out in dismay and horror. The girls head rolled across the stage, and as her body fell forward the jar rattled on the altar. Paine stood their glowering at them all defiantly. The tribal warriors surged to the front of the stage, and covered the sides. Brock stormed through them, rushing to Paine's side, but at that point they were surrounded.

Paine knew that she could not escape them all with the jar still in her possession. Glaring fiercely at her enemies, she spitefully took the jar in one hand and pried off the lid with the other. Without hesitation she lifted the brim of the jar to her lips and gulped down the contents, the two gleaming green eyes along with it all. She gasped once she had imbibed it all, while the tribals cried out and moaned all around her.

"Let's see you get it back now, savages…" She said to them haughtily. There was an uproar among the people of the tribe, many of them shouting and screaming in disdain, arguing with each other, while some of them merely stood in silence, or sulked. The elder women in black robes traded glances at each other in contemplative silence. All of a sudden felt her stomach quivering. The Ronso braves broke onto the stage and surrounded her.

"What is going on?" Brock said, bewildered.

"I don't know…" Paine said. Then she began to feel pangs in her stomach, and the strength of her legs failed her. Paine dropped her sword and fell to her hands and knees on the stage. She was gasping for breath, unable to rise. Brock immediately knelt by her side and grabbed her arm.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked desperately.

"I don't know… I feel sick." Paine replied.

"Let's get out of here! Let's go!" Brock shouted, and he lifted Paine up in his arms. The Ronso and Crusaders cleared a path for him, and he rushed back through the corridor and on the way to the back exit of the mountain caverns. They heard the cries and shouts and footsteps of the Black Eagle tribe chasing after them. Most of them had no weapons, and so the Crusaders cut them down. Finally armed warriors came running into the caverns and the Crusaders were entangled in combat with them. Meanwhile Brock and the Ronso continued toward the exit, carrying Paine to safety. Once they left the mouth of the cave behind the mountain, they ran down the hillside and across the barren plain, joining the company hidden in a field of rocks and boulders.

"Beclem! Get the men up! We're leaving!" Brock ordered.

"What happened to her? Where are the eyes of the Medusa?" Beclem demanded.

"She took them, and swallowed them." Brock said.

"She what!? Make her cough them up!" Beclem roared.

"We don't have time for this! Get the troops moving, now!" Brock commanded him. Beclem glared at him furiously, but did as he was told. He returned with a group of men, and ordered them to subdue Brock.

"Get her up on her feet, and make her throw them up." Beclem told his men. A few of them grabbed Paine and lifted her up, squeezing her midriff and trying to force her to vomit. It took almost a dozen men to arrest Brock, and he was fighting them ferociously, punching and kicking all the while. The Ronso warriors observed, but did nothing. Paine was dry heaving, and could not breathe… but she also could not throw up. Suddenly she began to see a violet haze hanging over her vision. She could not tell if the night had suddenly grown dark, or if she was going blind. Then she heard the sound of war whoops and battle cries coming across the plain from the Black Eagle enclave. Arrows and gunfire flew, and killed several of the Crusaders fighting with Brock.

"Assemble the troops for defense! Tell the knights to prepare for flanking maneuvers!" Beclem ordered. His men trumpeted for the company to assemble, but another volley of arrows flew by, and one of them pierced Beclem's neck. He fell on the ground, but the arrow had apparently missed his arteries. He broke off the back end of the shaft and then rolled onto his feet. He drew his sword and took a spear from one of his men.

"Did I tell you to take a nap! Get your asses up here!" Beclem roared, with blood in his throat and a deep stony voice.

The men cheered then, emboldened by his resilience, and two-hundred men sprang from behind the boulders and fell into a broad-faced formation with their shields locked together. Arrows and bullets sparked and ricocheted across the front of their shield wall, but the Crusaders held firm. Now that he was free, Brock ran to rescue Paine, and he battered the three men holding her. Finally she could breathe again, but Paine still saw nothing.

"Paine! Are you alright?" Brock asked.

"Brock! I can't see anything!" She said in a panic.

"Don't worry, we're getting out of here! Just stay put for now!" Brock said, and he turned to the Ronso warriors.

"Guard her with your lives!" Brock ordered them, and then he took hold of his battle axe and went to the formation, pushing his way to the front. Before he reached Beclem there were already throngs of skirmishers clashing with the front line of the Crusaders. In front of them, he could see chocobo knights sweeping across the moonlit field, dispatching some of the oncoming bands as they went. When he reached the front, he saw Beclem hurl a spear and kill one of the oncoming tribesmen.

"We can't stay here, Beclem! We need to make a tactical retreat!" Brock shouted.

"And what would you suggest? Unless you get Paine to cough up the mission objective, we'll be damned either way." Beclem growled at him.

"You're not in command here, I am, until Paine recovers. Tactical retreat, by platoons! Riflemen, cover us! Keep the knights flanking the enemy by passes!" Brock ordered the troops. Beclem finally gave in.

"2nd platoon, hold this ground! Everyone else, retreat! 3rd platoon, set up to cover us! Now go!" Beclem roared.

All of the troops except the 2nd platoon then pulled up from their positions and ran to the southwest, and the 3rd platoon set up snipers and riflemen to cover the retreat of the failing 2nd platoon, which had already lost a quarter of its ranks. It was a long night, running in retreat, trying to keep the hundreds and eventually thousands of Black Eagle warriors from catching them all. The Ronso carried Paine with them; they were still able to run faster than any human, despite the burden. By the first light of dawn, they came upon a narrow gorge. The sides were rocky and steep, but the floor was smooth sand. Small stone peaks stood on either side of it. The company, now at half their original strength, flooded into the gorge and turned their weapons back to hold off enemy incursion.

"This is madness! Are we even going the right way?" Beclem shouted.

"We are." Said one of the Ronso, "we will be back on the trail that we took into the Wake, with just an hours march west of here."

"Wonderful! Just wonderful! Then we'll be only days away from the edge of Bevelle! With a whole legion in pursuit of us!" Beclem said in frustration and disdain.

"Yeah, that's right. And you knew that was the mission all along." Brock said to him grimly.

"What exactly went on in the Black Eagle enclave? Could you not practice some tactics? I should have gone in myself!" Beclem suggested haughtily.

"Maybe you should have; and either way, it would not have mattered. The tribe was in the middle of their succession ritual. We had to act fast." Brock argued.

"And how do you excuse Paine's actions? We've failed our mission now!" Beclem shouted furiously.

"Did we? We broke the line of succession and took the eyes of the Medusa. There will be no Dark Queen in Sin's Wake from now on." Brock replied defiantly.

"Not until they surge into this gorge, and take Paine back into their custody." Beclem said.

"Then our new mission is to prevent that from happening. Get your best men ready. They can't go around this gorge from here; the mountains are too steep. We will hold them here, while a mounted detachment carries Paine back to Bevelle." Brock ordered. Beclem nodded reluctantly, and he assembled snipers and archers on the step sides of the gorge, then took a dozen of his best Crusaders to the mouth of the gorge, where the Black Eagles would soon be upon them. Brock picked up Paine and took her to the chocobo knights. He lifted her up onto the saddle in front of their captain.

"Take your knights and Commander Paine back to Bevelle, and report on what happened to us. You are now granted your own charge and mission. You are released from the company." Brock instructed him.

"Yes sir," The knight said with a salute, and he took hold of Paine with one arm, and his reigns with the other. He whistled to his knights to join him, and they fled swiftly from the other end of the gorge. The Ronso warriors came to join Brock then, and their leader spoke.

"We are at your disposal now, Sir Brock." The Ronso said solemnly.

"Then we shall hold this gorge together, as long as possible." Brock said determinedly. (The Gorge Battle theme is: 'Valhall Awaits Me' by Amon Amarth)

"They're coming!" One of the lookouts shouted, and a trumpet sounded its brassy call. Brock took up his axe then, and strode to join Beclem, who wielded his sword and a hatchet at the ready. The Ronso warriors joined in with the Crusaders at the front, while the rest of the company stood ready behind them. Their spears, swords and spiked-clubs glimmered in the morning light. Storming down the narrow path into the gorge came throngs upon throngs of war-painted tribals, armed with a weapon in each hand.

"This is it!" Beclem shouted.

Tribal braves came flooding into the opening of the gorge, which was only wide enough for five men shoulder-to-shoulder. Brock and Beclem stood at the front, with one Ronso warrior and a Crusader beside them, plus others backing them. They crashed into their enemies, killing them as quickly and ruthlessly as they physically could. Arrows and bullets flew from the marksmen placed atop boulders and rocks on the sides of the gorge. The Black Eagles answered with their own bowmen and riflemen, and there was carnage on both sides. Brock was splitting open enemies with his axe, and Beclem slashed fiercely with his sword and hatchet, and soon the gorge was filling up with blood and bodies. The Black Eagles began lifting and tossing their warriors over the ranks, and they tried to climb the sides of the gorge to get in behind Brock and Beclem, but spears and arrows deterred them from doing so.

The fighting created piles of bodies, and slowly Brock and Beclem were forced back into the gorge. The company was split then, into pockets of intense fighting, and by the time the sun crested into view over the peaks, the whole gorge was filled with bodies, blood, and men-o-war fighting for life and victory. Brock knew they could not keep this up with the few men left. He called on Beclem to rejoin him, and the Ronso, of whom four were left, and a Crusader to sound the trumpet call of assembly. Only a dozen men were able by any means to come to his side. He saw scattered bands of Crusaders fighting at each other's backs, and knew that he had to collect them up one-by-one.

"We have to regroup, and fight our way out!" Brock shouted.

"Good luck with that now! Let's go then! Come on! Forward men!" Beclem roared, and he charged forth, wading into the flood of tribal braves, swinging and killing like mad, and Brock went after him with their men in tow. They fought to the nearest group, a band of fifteen men, and freed them from the foes surrounding them. Stronger now, they went to the next, a group of just six brave souls, and liberated them; then to the next, near twenty men, and collected them. It seemed that the day might be saved, but it was not to be. As they were pushing forward to the end of the gorge, their tumult was drown out by the earth-rattling, sky-breaking din of savagery that is the roar of a Behemoth buck. From the end of the gorge to which they were headed, suddenly they saw a giant lumbering figure, rippling with tan and black spotted musculature and wild shocks of hoary white hair, a pair of giant horns seated above to flaming green eyes, and beneath them a long snout and massive gaping jowls filled with menacing yellowed teeth.

The fiend was on all fours, and still he was over fifty feet high. He mounted the edge of the gorge and glared down upon them, for all men were frozen in place with fear, gaping up at the fell creature. His big nose wrinkled and snorted in the smell of bloody carrion, and he licked his teeth greedily. In the next instant the Behemoth bounded into the gorge and began a heart-rending onslaught, crushing, snapping, and devouring dozens of men whole. Brock could do nothing to gather his men, and Beclem was shouting in vain right in front of him. The Behemoth bounded toward them, reaching down and seizing Beclem completely in his jaws. Brock fell over backward, and the beast leaped over him, continuing to sweep up the Black Eagles until the gorge was cleared, and then he went out the other side and continued to chase them, greatly depopulating the tribe of its warriors.

Brock was laying in the gorge alone, paralyzed with his back upon the reddened sands. For a long moment he stared up at the cloudless sky, now blue and bright, as day kept marching on. Now that the beast had gone he was bewildered by the serenity of the place. Apart from his battle-wounds he was unscathed, but all of his men were gone. Slowly Brock rolled over and gazed down the length of the gorge, to where the Behemoth had rushed, leaving nothing but death and half-bodies or else rent off limbs, in his wake. Brock took another moment, and when his limbs decided to work again, he raised himself up and slowly collected himself. He tore cloth from a tribal banner and used it to bandage a wound on his arm. He then shed most of his armor, save his bracers and a shoulder pad on his left, and his plated belt. He took up his axe gingerly then, and wiped the blood and sand from it. He found on the ground nearby Beclem's sword, which he picked up and found a scabbard to fit it in, and slung it over his back. He then breathed in a deep breath and began jogging out of the gorge and onto the trail that the knights had taken to carry Paine back to Bevelle.

Meanwhile, the chocobo knights moving by themselves were able to make much faster progress on the road home. Paine could see nothing but a vague brightness from the sunlight, and otherwise nothing but a dim blankness. She quivered with pangs that went throughout her body, and a cold sweat covered her. It seemed that her head was swollen, as if her brain was bulging and needed more room. It felt as though all the nerves in her body were slowly burning. She had no real sense of time, but the ride seemed to be taking forever. The knights stopped occasionally to give their birds some rest, but they pressed on through the night and the next day they continued at a slower gallop. They stopped for a long rest toward the evening, and laid Paine on the ground, wrapped in a saddle blanket to keep her warm.

"Are you hungry, my Lady?" The leader of the chocobo knights asked her.

"No…" Paine murmured weakly.

"It hurts us all to see you in such shape, Lady Paine. We pray to Yevon for your swift recovery. Until then, do not worry. We shall look after you. We'll make it back to Bevelle by tomorrow." He told her. Paine could hear him, but she had a hard time focusing on his voice; it seemed muffled and warped. All her senses were awash in eerie, painful distortion. In the silence and stillness, she saw visions coming and going, sometimes faint and other times pervasive; she saw beams of violet light shooting through her mind's eye, and the specters of witch women strode across her mind, laughing and screeching, chanting, casting spells or engaging in hypnotic dances. As she lay there alone in the cold of night, she saw more vivid visions, and it almost seemed that she was stepping into them, witnessing them in real life. Then at last she was there, or so it seemed, and she saw the full moon glowing pale and white over the plains and rocky fjords of the Wake. She heard the crows and the ravens, and it was as if she understood them, and she comprehended the howling of the lupines and hounds as they sang together and crooned at the moon. More than understanding their cries, it was as if she could see into their souls, and she knew their thoughts and desires. It was as if she understood Nature and the metaphysical realm both at once, together and whole.

She saw a violet fire glowing on the dark plain then, and went to it in her mind, and watched the bare and youthful bodies of witches and girl priestesses dancing around the fire, conjuring up streams of magical energy around them. Then one of the girls left the dancing circle and came rushing to meet her, and held out a gleaming jewel in her delicate hand, offering it fervidly to Paine. Paine took the gemstone from the girl; it was a glowing green emerald. It shone brightly as soon as Paine touched it, and the light seemed to flow into her fingers and her arm. The nubile young girl smiled brightly at her then, as if she were a newfound friend who had shared a priceless secret with her. She leaned intimately toward Paine and kissed her on the lips, and the warmth of her breath shocked Paine out of the cold she had felt. All of the girls around the fire were standing together, giggling, and then they all waived their hands wistfully in the air and fanned toward the fire, and abruptly the flames whirled and then leapt across the plain in a pair of straight lines. The girls went skipping and running down the lane between these fiery lines, laughing and playing all the way. The girl in front of Paine grabbed hold of her hand and led her along with them gleefully. As Paine watched, they all took hold of the very flames themselves and flung them about through the air as if it were child's play. Paine tried this herself, and to her astonishment found that she could grasp the fire at will and without any harm to herself.

As she went on skipping with the girls it seemed as though they were gliding across the plain, and gravity had no pull on them. This sensation grew stronger, until finally they all sprang up into the air together and floated across the sky. Great black Zu's came flying then, and gave them a ride up to the clouds. The girls departed from the birds and continued to whirl and dance through the air and upon the clouds themselves. They played with the winds and with lightning, and cast the rain down out of the clouds. They played with the very elements themselves. The girl holding Paine's hand finally let go, and Paine found that she could float at will, and joined in the frolicking and casting of the elements. She was warm and glowing with pale light then, and felt as though nothing had ever been wrong with her. Indeed, this was the most ecstatic experience in her entire life.

Paine hovered back down to her body then, content and peaceful. She awoke in the camp at dawn, and she could see and hear again, though the urge to pay attention to the world was strangely gone from her. She watched as the men prepared their birds for another day of riding, and the knight captain came to collect her up for the journey. He spoke to her, but Paine smiled and said nothing in response. Finally he just picked her up and lifted her into his saddle, and then they all got onto their birds and began the trek back up the mountainous road. By midday they crested the top of the trail and they saw the majestic city by the sea; Bevelle. The men all cheered and laughed, obviously relieved to be within sight of safety. They were not out of the Wake yet, however, and they were soon rudely reminded of this.

As they began the descent down the road all was eerily silent. They had gone perhaps five miles, when suddenly a large shadow flitted over them. The chocobos screeched in panic, and the knights all shot their gaze up to the sky. The cry of Zu birds was heard then, and suddenly a giant black-winged fiend came swooping down upon them. The Zu was ridden by a priestess of the Black Eagle tribe. The fiend-bird snatched up two the knights in its talons and ripped them from their saddles, then dropped them over the ledge to their deaths. The knight captained immediately ordered a dashed retreat, and they all fled down the road fast as they could. One of the birds fell over with a crash as its heart gave out, and the rider plunged headlong into the stony road.

The knights were urging their birds onward at a dead sprint, and they passed over the wooded and grassy hills along the coast. They were nearly to the entrance of the High Bridge. They could see more mounted knights coming out of the city armed with lances, longbows and carbines to rescue them, but they looked to be coming late. As the fleeing knights entered the clear fields just before the High Bridge, suddenly one of the Zu's swept down in front of them and came gliding at them. Paine saw the mighty black bird flinging itself upon them, and then she faintly felt the clash as it bowled right through them, knocking over the whole group. Paine felt herself flying through the air, and then she rolled across the grass and finally came to a stop. She laid on her back and looked up at the blue sky, seeing the black outline of the Zu descending toward her. Before the bird could land, a flashing bolt of energy shot across the sky, nearly hitting it. The Zu birds screeched and flew away then, back over the mountains and into Sin's Wake.

Paine laid still where she was. She knew that the bolt of energy came from Bevelle, but she had no idea what could possibly have fired it. As she laid on the grass she heard the anguish and suffering of the men and chocobos who had been wounded by that last swoop. She also heard the sound of more approaching. Soon a squad of knights in fresh clean armor appeared over her, and they lifted her up and carried her across the High Bridge and into Bevelle.